The White Door

by Christy Sloat

  “I’ll be right outside the door if you need me. I’m going to fix the window in your room.”

  “Ephraim, I love you. So much,” I told him.

  He smiled so big that it reached his eyes like always. “I love you, too. Now, take a bath because you stink.”

  I threw a bottle of shampoo at him, but he dodged it before closing the door.

  Chapter 11

  After my soak, I dressed and felt normal again. I did feel guilty that I had taken a warm bath while Ephraim couldn’t.

  We cleaned up the glass in my room and my window was fixed with a new pane of glass Ephraim had found in the basement. I managed to make dinner for us, and prayed the power would come back on by the next morning.

  When that morning came, there was still no power. Everything was quiet now without it. Even the ghosts in the house. I hadn’t heard or seen anything from them since the night of the storm. I wasn’t complaining, but it was abnormal.

  By mid-afternoon, I had had my fill of playing cards and using my phone for entertainment, which I had to stop anyway, considering the battery was dangerously low. School was in session tomorrow so Ephraim said he would clean up the yard and try to get rid of some of the water. I had no idea how.

  A knock on the door interrupted him as he was explaining the way he would do it. When I answered the door, I was shocked to see Slappy Hands on my porch.

  “Miss Branson, may I have a word with you?” His face was stern looking and I hesitated before inviting him inside. But he was a cop and I didn’t want to be rude.

  “Sure, come in.”

  He walked in and I remembered his card in my jacket pocket. I still didn’t know his name. What was it his co-worker called him? Stock!

  “Oh shit!” I said aloud. I had pieced the details together somehow. Stock was short for Stockard and Stockard was the last name of Kayla’s only boyfriend. “Richard Stockard!”

  “Yep, that’s me. Why the burst of surprise?”

  I hesitated before answering. “Uh, you knew her, right?”

  His stern face melted. He did know her because he was in love with her. He was the only one who possibly had loved her in her life.

  “I did. I’m here about something you said to me the other day,” he told me. He walked to the table. “May we sit?”

  I nodded. “Go on,” I urged.

  “You were in shock when you saw her pulled from the tree, I understand that. Yet you said to me that you were upset to see Kayla’s body in your yard. You used her name because you knew it was her. I never said who the body belonged to. Right?”

  I thought about what I had said. I did say that, which put me in a pickle. I nodded, biting my lip. Ephraim sat in the living room while Lyn remained with him. How was I supposed to explain that I could see the dead? Especially to a stranger?

  “You are way too young to have known her, and you just moved here.”

  “How …?”

  “I am a detective Brylee, I can find these things out.” He paused. “So, how did you know her then?”

  I ignored his question to ask my own, “How did you know her?”

  Suddenly his face changed to shock. He didn’t answer me.

  “You were her boyfriend, right?” I pressed.

  “How did you know that?”

  “I have my own ways detective. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you though,” I said to him sternly.

  It was apparent he didn’t like the tables turned on him. Ephraim stood now and came over to the table.

  “You don’t have to answer these questions, Brylee.” I knew he was scared of me telling this stranger my secret. But, I felt like Kayla would have wanted Richard to know.

  “Try me. Tell me how you knew it was her,” Richard said.

  “Well, she was the first person I met when I moved here. She was the first to befriend me actually.” I paused, giving my words time to sink in. Once they did, I went on, “I didn’t find out right away she was dead. Not until my boyfriend put the puzzle together. But, she is one of my best friends now. So, seeing her body in the tree was shocking, to say the least. I think she is trying to move on.”

  Richard sat back in his chair with a thump. It wasn’t apparent at first if he believed me.

  “Show him!” Suddenly Kayla stood next to Ephraim. Her face was blue, like she had just drowned. Scratches covered her face, and her nails were missing. I cringed at the sight of her. It pained me to see my beautiful friend this way. She didn’t look alive and strong, she looked like an animated corpse.

  “Do it!” she screamed.

  “I … I don’t know how, Kayla,” I told her as a single tear trickled from my eye.

  “Who are you talking to? Her, I suppose,” he said. I could hear the doubt in his voice.

  “Kayla, how do I show him? Huh?”

  She walked toward me and I could smell the strong scent of mold on her tattered clothes. She held out her bloated hand to me and I took it trying not to show my cringe. She went right through me.

  “No.” I tried again to take her hand, but she kept fading.

  “What’s wrong?” Richard asked.

  “She’s fading away. She’s not solid anymore,” I cried. “Kayla, stay with me, don’t leave, okay?” My tears returned.

  “I’ll try. I can feel it pulling me. I can feel myself fading into nothing, disappearing.”

  Richard stood up while shaking his head.

  “Sit down!” I told him. Surprisingly, he did.

  “You don’t believe me, but I don’t care. I know all about you and her. I know you were her first love and you tried everything you could to find her when she first went missing.”

  He still shook his head. “Okay, anyone could know that. That’s not something the whole town didn’t already know.”

  I looked to Kayla for a little nudge. She smiled and walked toward him. It was apparent that seeing him now brought out something within her that she had stored away all this time. She was looking at the man she once loved and how he had grown up and she wouldn’t get to. She ran her hands along the edges of his shoulders, her fingers going through just slightly.

  “I lost my virginity to you,” she whispered in his ear. “I loved you, wholly. I love you even now.”

  I repeated word for word what she said, but still Richard looked unfazed.

  “Listen, if you didn’t believe, you wouldn’t still be standing here, right?” Ephraim asked him.

  “It’s insane,” Richard mumbled.

  “No more insane than you being a detective at what, how old are you? Twenty three? You’ve got to be super young, am I right?” Ephraim pressed.

  “My age is unimportant. I worked hard to become a detective. I did all the things I was supposed to do and then some.”

  Ephraim got closer. “Why then? Why do it all to do this? Unless you did it all to look for a dead girl you once loved? A girl that left your life way too soon.”

  It seemed to click inside of Richard at that moment. “I did it because I knew she was still here on this earth.” As he said it, it was like he was answering his own questions. All his doubts came to the surface and blew away. He looked to me and a smile spread across his face.

  “I am the youngest detective on our force. I specialize in missing girls, and I do it because I wanted to find her. Because something told me she was still out there,” he paused looking around for her. “I believe she could be here, but it’s hard to not think it’s all bullshit. Does that make sense?”

  “It does Richard,” I told him. “Because it’s drilled into us that spirits do not remain here. We are to believe that they all move on, and that ghosts are a myth. But I am here to tell you, they are not a myth. They are real. And this ghost is here to tell you she loves you still.”

  Kayla smiled at me and I knew that she was really, truly happy. In all the time I had known her, she had never been happy. She was always snarky and angry at the hand she was dealt, and understandably so.

  “Please just c
all me Rich,” he said to us. He seemed more relaxed now easing into his chair.

  “Okay, Rich. Now, I am guessing she wants me to tell you something or else she wouldn’t be stuck here in this form. She’s unable to move on and I think it’s because of you.”

  Lynley came forward and held her hand out to Kayla. When their hands touched they didn’t go through. They were connected.

  “I never got to tell her goodbye. I was gone on a fishing trip with my dad when it happened. I had just gotten back and I found out that night that she was missing,” he confirmed. “I told everyone she would never run away. Not Kayla. Something bad happened to her.” Tears welled in his eyes and he ran his hands through his hair.

  “I saw him,” Kayla told me.

  “What?”

  “The night I died, I went to his house. I was standing in his front yard when Anna told him I was gone. Tell him, please?”

  I nodded and did just that.

  “So, she was there for it all?”

  “Yes. Even the search parties the town had. She has been here ever since.”

  He looked around the room as if looking for her.

  “She is standing behind you,” I informed him. “Her hand is on your shoulder.”

  He took a deep breath and put his hands on the table. “Can she touch my hands?”

  She moved from his shoulder and placed her hands on his. He didn’t feel a thing, but I could see it all. I wished I could let him see her, if only for a second. Somehow I felt that would make everything he went through worth it.

  “I have to go. I know I do, it’s my time,” she told him. “I’m fading because my time here is up.”

  “No, Kayla. Not yet. Please …” I begged again. I wasn’t ready for this. I couldn’t let her leave, but I knew I had to. It was the hardest and worst thing to go through. Torture to watch her drown all over again and torture to watch her go.

  “Brylee, your friendship has been the most sincere, real friendship I have ever had,” she told me as she looked me in the eyes. “You have been so helpful tonight. You really do have a gift. I hope you never give up on us creepy ghosts.”

  I got up from the table and hugged her in my arms and, to my surprise, she felt real again. What would life be like without her around?

  “Please, take care of Rich for me. Just make sure that he moves on now that he found me, okay?”

  “Okay,” I promised her.

  I didn’t want to let go of her, but as I did, her once rotted appearance was gone. She stood in front of me and was as beautiful as the day I met her. Blue hair and all.

  “Rich,” she said as she turned toward him.

  “She’s in front of you. She wants to say goodbye,” I choked out.

  He stood and, to my surprise, looked in her eyes, even though he couldn’t see her.

  “It’s time to put me to rest. Time to stop looking for me and focus on girls that can be found. I love you and I will wait for you. But while I am waiting, I want you to find a girl that you can love with all your heart and marry her. I want you to have babies with that girl. And when you’re ready to leave this world, I will be there, waiting.”

  I told him what she said and tried not to lose it. Ephraim stood by me and put his arms around me, comforting me like he always did.

  “Kayla, I will love you forever. I promised you that once and I will never break that promise. But I will live my life to the fullest because that is what you want,” Rich promised. I saw a tear stream down her face and I looked away. I didn’t want to see her cry. When I turned back, she was gone.

  “She’s left us,” I announced. I fought back the sobs that threatened to tear me apart. Rich stood in shock. I turned and buried my face into Ephraim’s arms.

  “Is life always like his for her?” Rich asked Ephraim of me.

  “Sometimes, and other times it’s fairly normal. You have to understand, Brylee is special,” he paused, trying to find the correct words. “She is a medium, but she’s still just a teenage girl trying to live her life and get through each day.”

  It was the truth! I have had to watch two friends cross over into the light, but the next day I had to wake up and live the life I had here. My talent didn’t define me. I wasn’t just a medium, I was a girl who had her whole life still ahead of her. I had a boyfriend. I had school and college staring me in the face. No one would ever realize what being me was like and I didn’t expect anyone to ever understand.

  I pulled away from Ephraim and faced Rich, who was now standing awkwardly in my kitchen. “You okay?” I asked.

  He shrugged.

  “Listen, I hope you take her words to heart. I hope you do live, because she will never get the chance to.”

  He held his hand up to stop me. “No, you don’t need to tell me. I promised her. I keep my promises, Brylee,” he said as he walked toward my door. “Thanks for everything. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ephraim and I both said in unison.

  Chapter 12

  The next morning I woke to the sound of running water. I sat up so fast I made myself dizzy. Was it raining again? I couldn’t handle more rain and neither could my yard. I ran to the window and saw a bright, sunshiny morning. That had to mean …

  “We have electricity!” I squealed. I ran out into the kitchen to find Ephraim washing dishes and making a cup of coffee for me.

  “You better get a shower, your hair looks greasy,” Ephraim joked.

  “You’re very lucky that you are making me coffee, otherwise I might smack you for that comment.” I tore up the steps and threw my clothes into my room. I ran my fingers through my hair, noting that he may have been joking, but my hair was dirty.

  As the shower water hit me, I remembered last night’s events. I had to try hard to hold it all together today. I had school which meant I had to be that normal teen girl that didn’t see ghosts.

  I had to pretend that I hadn’t watched Kayla pass into the light in my living room.

  After my shower, I had no more tears to cry. I was dried up. I think I let go a million tears in the past few months alone. I watched Ephraim as he finished breakfast and couldn’t help but think that I was going to lose him next. It was my natural thought process at the moment.

  Ephraim saw something in me and sat down next to me as I ran the brush through my hair.

  “Brylee, you will be fine today, right?”

  I looked into his fierce blue eyes and nodded. “Yep. I’ll be fine.” I lied right to his face to save him the anguish of knowing how awful I felt inside. If he knew the truth, he would keep me from school. As much as I hated to have to go back, I had to think of my future. I was hoping to attend college and if that were to happen, I had to study my ass off.

  “Okay. I am going to see about a job today, so please call me if you need me.”

  A job? “Wait, where are you going?”

  “I can’t stay here forever, we both know that,” he explained. “I want to be able to rent a house and get out on my own, with you able to move in as soon as you can. In order to do that, I need a job.”

  I wondered how he would pull off school and a job while still having time for us.

  “Where is this job?” I asked inquisitively. He bent down and kissed me fast.

  “I’ll tell you if I get it. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Now, come on I’m driving you to school.”

  My first period class went rather slow, but periods two and three were agonizing in comparison. Lyn was still not able to enter the school, so she stayed with Ephraim. Although, he didn’t know she was in the back seat. I hoped she would give me the details on this job hunt of his.

  Some kids didn’t come back to school today due to the major devastation from the hurricane. I learned that a lot of houses still had no electricity and it would be at least two weeks before it could be fixed. But this was the minor news going around campus. The major news? Oh, yeah, that would be the fact that Kayla Hart’s body was found behind
my house. Terrific! This was just what I needed to deal with.

  I was bombarded all day with questions about it. “Did you see her body?” “How do you feel living in that house now?” And the best one of all, “Did someone in your house kill her and dump her out there?”

  I tried to ignore them but by lunch I flipped out. “Leave me the hell alone,” I told a kid I had never met. “Freshman, ugh!”

  I stomped outside, forgoing lunch, and ran into Sophie.

  “Oh, so sorry Brylee. I seem to keep doing that,” she said innocently. “What is that?”

  She pointed to the key that stuck out from my button up top. I hastily tucked it back in and shook my head. “What?”

  “That key, where does it go?” she asked urgently.

  I frowned. “It’s just something I wear. No big deal.” I tried to maneuver around her but to no avail. She blocked me and pulled at the chain, exposing the key.

  “It’s beautiful, no?” She wouldn’t give up!

  “No, it’s not beautiful, actually. It’s hideous, but I have to wear it.” I ripped it out of her greedy little hands and tried once again to move along.

  But her hands clamped down on my arms and held me firmly in place.

  “Sophie,” I said calmly. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Oh,” she replied. “So sorry, Brylee. I’m just tired.” And with that she walked away from me. I stood in the hallway, thoroughly confused by the whole ordeal.

  I finished my day with Art class. It was the only class where I felt comfortable. Mr. Combs said nothing to me about the ordeal with Kayla, nor did he mention the dark circles that ringed my eyes.

  Instead, he kept me busy. I helped grade papers and art assignments, then filed them away. I also took the time to do what he had asked of me and pour my sorrows into my sketches. Today I drew Kayla’s soft face and tried hard to push out the memory of the corpse I saw. I angled my pencil slightly to get the beautiful shading of her eyes. When I was done I had the most beautiful sketch of Kayla. I tucked it into the folder, just like Mr. Combs asked me to do. Believe it or not, it had helped.